It’s not the news any young man wants to hear, but especially a football player with a senior season ahead of him.
Senior to be defensive lineman Derrell Hand’s football career is likely over because of a hereditary disease in his spinal cord, Hand’s former high school coach, Brian Fulk, explained to BlueandGold.com this afternoon.
Fulk said the pain in Hand’s lower back started to become a problem toward the end of last season, especially during periods of inactivity, and the diagnosis was more serious than anyone would have expected.
“He’s not the type of player to complain about injuries and he really never said that his back was hurting him, at least when he played for me,” said Fulk, who coached Hand at West Catholic High School in Philadelphia. “It kind of came out of nowhere for me.”
Hand is expected to get a second opinion but if the initial diagnosis is correct, Fulk said that playing football could severely aggravate the injury and potentially cause long-term problems.
“He’s going to get a second opinion about it,” Fulk said. “But at this point, it doesn’t look real good for him to play football ever again.”
A Notre Dame spokesman declined specific comment on Hand’s status, citing confidentiality laws.
Hand’s loss is the second severe hit the Notre Dame’s thin defensive line has taken recently. Starting nose tackle Pat Kuntz, the only returning starter from the defensive line last season, was not enrolled at Notre Dame when spring semester classes began and is currently taking classes at Ivy Tech in his hometown of Indianapolis.
Kuntz, a senior classmate of Hand’s, said he hopes to return in the summer and finish his career at Notre Dame but his situation is unsettled. The unexpected absence of Kuntz put extra responsibility on Hand to emerge as a possible starter at defensive end or a backup at nose tackle.
If Hand doesn’t get a favorable second opinion and Kuntz doesn’t return, it appears sophomore nose tackle Ian Williams, who was a Freshman All-American after last season, will join probable fifth-year senior Justin Brown as the most experienced members of the Irish defensive line.
If Hand’s career is truncated, the Irish would go into the spring with six scholarship defensive line prospects for three positions: Williams, Brown, juniors to be Paddy Mullen and Kallen Wade, sophomore to be Emeka Nwankwo and freshman early enrollee Sean Cwynar. Mullen and Wade combined for just over 10 minutes of action last season, while Nwankwo did not see game action. If just one gets injured, some players might have to participate for both teams in the annual Blue-Gold Game.
Too bad Trevor Laws doesn’t have a sixth year of eligibility.
Senior to be defensive lineman 
